ITC aims Rs 18,000-crore revenue from agri business by FY'21

ITC is expecting its agri division to touch Rs 18,000 crore in the next five years, driven by procurement and retail initiatives in rural markets. BHOPAL: Diversified group ITC is expecting nearly three-fold jump in turnover of its agri division to touch Rs 18,000 crore in the next five years, driven mostly by procurement and retail initiatives in rural markets.

ITC expects the agri business division to have a turnover of Rs 6,500 crore in the ongoing fiscal, up from Rs 5,672.07 crore in the last fiscal. A majority of the business is generated from its 'e-Choupals', a web-enabled supply chain network in villages and rural hypermarts 'Chaupal Sagars'.

ITC Agri Business Division COO Rajnikant Rai said in the last five years, the agri division has been witnessing an average growth of 15 to 20 per cent.

"In the financial year 2009-10, we were at Rs 2,500 crore and now we are more than double of that in five years. Going forward, we have to maintain this growth...Our target for financial year 2020-21 from this division is Rs 18,000 crore," he told PTI.

Currently, the company has 6,500 e-Choupals and 25 Chaupal Sagars in 11 states. ITC sources a variety of farm produce like wheat, soya beans, coffee, shrimp, pulses, millets, barley, and jowar along with fruits such as mango, litchi, jamun, guava and pineapple.

ITC expects internal consumption by group companies to increase to almost half of its agri segment's business in the next five years.

"Out of Rs 18,000 crore, which we are expecting by financial year 2020-21, 50 per cent would be consumed internally and rest externally," Rai said.

In the ongoing fiscal, internal consumption by company's various group firms is likely to account for around Rs 2,500 crore, Rai added.

“A divorce could reshape the global wealth ranking. If the couple split their fortune equally, it could leave wife MacKenzie with $69 billion, making her world’s richest woman. It could also make Microsoft's Bill Gates the planet’s richest person once again,” reported Bloomberg. Amazon founder Bezos was dating Lauren Sanchez, a 49-year-old ex-news anchor.